Fire-escape



N0 Model.)

D. BECK & R. W. LEVITT. FIRE moms.

No. 493,574. Patented Mar. 14., 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID BECK AND ROBERT W. LEVI'IT, OF MCLUNEY, OHIO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION fQrming part of Letters Patent No. 493,574, dated March14, 1893.

Application filed November 4, 1892. Serial No. 451,016. (No'modeL) Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, DAVID BECK and ROB- ERT W. LEVITT, citizens of theUnited States, residing at McLuney, in the county of Perry and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes;and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being badto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in fire escapes, and the object ofour invention is the provision of a fire escape which can be applied tobuildings and occupy but little space and not mar the appearance of thestructure; which will when not in use be stored out of the way and whichcan be quickly and easily brought into use; which will be easy tooperate and will safely land the passengers; which will be simple anddurable and inexpensive in construction, thus embodying the features ofmerit calculated to commend the escape as practical, useful andeconomical.

To attain the desired objects the invention consists of a fire escapeembodying novel features of construction and adaptation of partssubstantially as disclosed herein.

In order that the peculiar construction and arrangementof parts of theescape maybe understood and the advantages and operation be made clearwe have illustrated in the accompanying drawings in- Figure 1 a frontelevation of a building or structure with our improved fire escapeapplied in position for use. Fig. 2 a side elevation of a building withthe escape applied, and in Fig. 3 a perspective view on an enlargedscale of the basket or cage of the fire escape.

Referring by numerals to the drawingsthe numeral 1 designates a buildingor structure to which is secured the brackets orsupports 2 which are ofright angle shape, and are braced by the inclined braces 3, and thelower ends of the right angle brackets pass through the vertical flangeor web 4, of the track or rail 5, which track is secured to the bracketsby nuts 6 engaging the ends of the brackets as clearly shown. Thisconstruction forms a strongly supported track on which the wheels 7 ofthe trolley consisting of the longitudinal side pieces 8 travels. Theside pieces comprise the longitudinal straight pieces 8 and thesegmental integral pieces 8, and the straight pieces carry the studs orjournals 9 on which the trolley wheels are mounted. From thisconstruction it will be seen that four wheels are journaled in the sidepieces and they rest and travel easily upon the track, and the sidepieces are connected by the transverse pieces 10, between which ismounted the transversely disposed pulley 11, which is grooved andreceives the rope, chain or cable 12, having one end connected to thering 13, which is connected to the bails or handles 14, of the basket orcage 15.

The basket or cage is of peculiar construction and is adapted to befolded or collapsed in order that it may be easily stored, and itconsists of the bottom 16, the end section 17 adapted to fold and havingthe pivoted connecting links, the side and end sections 18 connected tothe bottom by means of the strap and staple joints or hinges 19, and thesaid end and side sections 18 are secured in upright position by thehinged clamps 20 which have the lips or keepers 21 for engaging the endsof sections, as clearly shown, and the end section is secured in uprightposition by means of suitable catches 22.

It will be understood that when it is desired to open or unfold theparts of the basket or cage the sides are first elevated and then theends having the pivoted connecting links are lifted and force thesprings 22 down until they are closed when the said springs engage andhold the end sections, and to close the sections and collapse the cageit is only necessary to move the end sections up to release them whenthe basket or cage can be folded, as is evident.

When the escape is not in use the basket is collapsed and placed withina suitable casing either inside or outside of the building and whenfound necessary to use the escape it is removed from its housing and thesections of the basket opened and locked in position and then the basketis brought underthe window and the persons enter the carriage anddescend to the ground in safety. The rope or cable may if desired bewound upon a drum or capstan and thus enable the same to be drawn in andout more readily.

It will thus be seen that we provide a fire escape which will not beunsightly in appearance, which will occupy but little space when not inuse, which is thoroughly efficient in operation and can be applied at asmall expense, thus rendering the improvement practical and useful.

We claim as our invention- 1. In a fire escape, the combination of thetrack supported from a building or structure, the trolley consisting ofthe longitudinal side pieces and wheels traveling on the track, thetransverse pieces connecting the side pieces, the grooved pulley mountedin said pieces, the cord or cable passing over said pulley, and a basketor cage consisting of the bottom sec- DAVID BECK. R. W. LEVITT.Witnesses:

JOHN W. FREE, W. T. MELoY.

